SideStoke home

This kiln home

All the bracing was completed prior to the construction of the arch. The apertures at left and right of the door were obviously meant to be salting ports, but they did not end up in those positions.

The arch was made of the same peculiar length-wise arch bricks that we have used in other kilns. We originally bought 3,000 of these because they were cheap. The mortar in the arch of our first salt kiln was affected by salt and dripped onto the pots so since then we have erected the arches without mortar, and sometimes without any sort of arch former. This can be done if you have several people on hand to hold up the bricks until they lock into position under their own weight. They can then be tapped into position with a hammer. This method works well, but sometimes the arch tends to pop out sideways , so there is not only longitudenal bracing (half inch steel rod) but also sideways bracing (angle iron, glavanised).

There was nobody else around when I did this arch so I made a rough arch former out of various bits of wood with a flexible sheet of something - an old perspex sign, I think - draped over the top.

SideStoke home

This kiln home